Antoon Mortier

Amor

(b. 26 April 1919, Belgium)

Antoon Mortier is an artist from Ghent, who has gained notority through his involvement in the publications of the Ivanov/Ysebie family during the 1940s and 1950s. He was one of the driving forces behind the children's magazine Ons Rakkersblad, that was built around the stories written by Sacha Ivanov. Mortier took control from 1943 to 1944, when Ivanov turned ill. Mortier, who later married Ivanov's daughter Regina Ysebie, wrote editorials and hobby sections and also made comic strips under the pen name Amor. The magazine also contained early work by Buth and Sirius, as well as material from German and British origins.

Mortier was a member of the SS and the national-socialist movement De Vlag during World War II. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment and a fine after the Liberation, but returned with new Ivanov publications in 1947. The first one was Ivanov's Rakkersvriend, for which Mortier did the lay-outs, while his former teacher Jos Verdegem was brought in to draw the comic strips.

The magazine didn't last long (4 issues) and the family continued with the publication of Ivanov's Verteluurtjes and more adult publications like Avondlectuur and Club. In 1955-56, they returned to the field of children's magazines with the bi-weekly Ivanov's Rakkersblad in 1955-1956 (12 issues), that featured German comics by Bob Heinz and Charlie Bood, as well as 'Tom Nitro' by Eugeen Decamps. Mortier drew another comic for Club in 1959, called 'De Meester van 't Zilverhof'.